Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 27, 2025
Continuously-stirred Anaerobic Digester to Convert Organic Wastes into Biogas: System Setup and Basic Operation
Published on: July 13, 2012
Post-hydrolysis versus side-stream ammonia stripping in semi-continuous two-stage anaerobic digestion of high
M Adghim1, M Sartaj1, N Abdehagh2
1Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
Abstract:
With the increased popularity of two-stage anaerobic digesters, post-hydrolysis ammonia stripping (PHAS) has resurfaced as a new possible treatment configuration. This study discusses for the first time the semi-continuous operation of PHAS and compares it with the most used stripping configuration nowadays, side-stream ammonia stripping (SSAS), under similar conditions using air or renewable natural gas (RNG) as stripping mediums. Ammonia stripping operating conditions were set to pH 9.5, 55 °C, and flowrate of 100 L gas/L/hour. RNG removed 50-58% of ammonia while air removed 70-78%. Interestingly, the PHAS system showed more flexibility and resilience than the SSAS system when testing parameters were changed. Volumetric and specific biogas production from PHAS and SSAS scenarios averaged up to 1.91 and 1.26 L/L/day and 831 and 701 L biogas/ kg VS/day under organic loading rates of 2.61 and 1.8 g VS/L/day, respectively.
